The Equalizer
by Coeur Al'Aran
Summary: Dust was humanity's equalizer against the Grimm, a tool with limitless possibilities – especially when handled with care. Jaune was but a child when he started experimenting, but they say there's lessons to learned, even in failure. Jaune's not sure why his mixtures are considered failed reactions though. [ONE SHOT]


**This is a random one-shot I sketched up and thus is finished and will not be updated. In a way it could be the opening chapter of its own story, but I don't want to go any further. Instead, imagine it more like a parody of those fics where Jaune (or any main character) learns an obscure skill _before_ Beacon and then goes through canon events using that special ability. **

**To note, I actually _like_ those stories where Jaune's past is changed and we see how that subtly affects him, so this isn't me criticising them. You don't have to dislike something to parody it.  
**

* * *

 **The Equalizer**

* * *

Jaune's journey started, like many do, with a discovery… but also with an explosion.

He had never been the strongest child, nor was he the most confident. Twelve-year-old Jaune Arc didn't have much going for him other than a large family and an inordinate amount of pictures of him in girl's clothing, all thanks to his sisters. What he _did_ have, however, was a dream. And more than a dream, he had a determination few others held.

In the cruel world of Remnant, that was not always enough – and as young as he was, Jaune knew full well he wasn't strong or skilled enough to become the Hunter he wanted to be. Others had training, Semblances, resources… they all had something that gave them an intrinsic advantage over him. At first it left him dispirited, bitter and upset... why should those people have things he did not? It wasn't fair.

But then, as his thirteenth birthday came about, he began to understand.

It wasn't just he who suffered in that way. The Grimm were stronger than humans… how else could they have wiped out so much of the population? Humans unlocked aura and semblances not because it was convenient or to lord it over their fellows, but because it was necessary. Those were tools that people needed to face the creatures of the Grimm on an even footing. They were just trying to even out the playing field. If he wanted to do the same, then he would need an advantage too.

Jaune needed an equalizer.

And he found it that day, as he tinkered with things he barely understood. He found it in the one substance that humanity had relied on for so long – that brought them warmth, electricity and power. Without it, humanity would be lost... somehow it felt fitting that it would become his greatest tool.

Jaune Arc discovered dust.

/-/

Weiss' day started with a realisation… and an explosion.

The realisation was simple; this girl was an idiot. The explosion was simple too, in that the annoying idiot had sneezed and mixed a volatile mixture of various types of dust, each with different properties. The results had been a negative reaction followed by an immediate, but thankfully brief, explosion.

And then some black-haired girl had the temerity to insult _her_? She had nearly been blown up by some idiotic girl and _she_ was the one at fault? No… it wasn't Weiss that the girl had a problem with, not with how she'd mentioned her family name and their less than stellar record. It was yet another person taking their frustrations on the SDC out on her. She wished she could say that was a new experience.

"Hey," a low voice spoke up from beside her, "Are you okay? I heard an explosion and had to come take a look."

"I am unhurt, thank you," Weiss replied automatically, dusting down her skirt before taking a moment to inspect her new companion. Tall was the first thing that came to her mind. He towered above her, at least six feet, and yet at the same time his easy smile and messy blond hair stopped that from being intimidating. Her practiced eyes quickly scanned the rest of his outfit, paying particular attention to the leather bandolier around his breastplate, in which she could see several, carefully-secured canisters. "Is that an SDC Dust Bandolier?" she had to ask.

"Huh?" He looked down at himself, "Ah yeah, it is. I had to modify it a little, it didn't quite have as much storage room as I needed, but they make the best gear for a Dust Specialist. Well," he shrugged, "that and the best dust as well."

Weiss tried to hide her proud smile – she really did. The naked praise towards her family made it difficult, however.

"Weiss Schnee," she bowed, "At your service."

His expression was priceless.

"R-Really?" he gasped, and yes – she did preen a little beneath his awed gaze. "Wow… I never thought I'd get a chance to meet someone like you. The name's Jaune Arc." He held a hand out which she shook easily. Someone like her… the words were usually said as an insult, but it was clear from his smile that he meant it kindly.

"You're a dust user, then?" Weiss asked, nodding down to his bandolier.

"A Dust Specialist," Jaune corrected, "Or well… probably not officially, more like in training. I have my sword but… I'm less of a swordsman who uses dust and more of a dust user who has a sword he can barely use."

"I see." Dust Specialists were unusual and rare, mainly because they tended to focus on the usages of dust and nothing else. What they could achieve, however, was phenomenal. Dust was as versatile as it was powerful, but harnessing that energy required years upon years of careful study and dedication. Weiss was proficient in its usage, yet she would never dare call herself a dust specialist. It was said that a true specialist could heal the wounded, burn the enemy and change the very course of the weather itself.

He probably wasn't anywhere close to that… but if he could still be here in Beacon, based on nothing more than dust? Well, he was better than her, certainly.

"Still," he went on, "It's an honour to meet a member of the Schnee family. Your dust is always the purest. I get the best results every time… well, not that I can always afford it."

"Shipments to Vale have faced trouble recently," she apologised with a wince, "It's driven the price up."

"Not to mention the dust robberies," he said – and she could almost _feel_ his agony at the thought of so much quality dust being stolen. She could only nod… she felt that same pain. "The price has gone through the roof. Ah… I hate using sub-standard dust but what can you do?"

"Hopefully the situation will get better," she smiled. Come to think of it, did she recognise the Arc name from somewhere? She would have to do a little research on that. From what she'd heard, teams in Beacon consisted of groups of four. With his respect for her name and family, not to mention his apparent skills, he could make a valuable teammate. At the very least he was intelligent, respectful, and in complete awe of her.

Those were good traits!

"We should head towards the main auditorium," Weiss suggested, "We wouldn't want to miss the opening speech by the Headmaster."

"Here," he smiled and reached down to pick up one of her fallen cases, "Let me help."

Polite too… perhaps Beacon wouldn't be quite so frustrating after all.

/-/

Jaune's initiation started with a long drop, a javelin… and an explosion.

Bark and branches ricocheted across the clearing as he struck the tree, propelled through the air like a blonde missile. It toppled down behind him a few minutes later, the base sheared in two as a result of his clever dust usage. Whoever had stuck him to the tree deserved some thanks for stopping his fall, perhaps followed by a very speedy goodbye. Because seriously, who pinned guys to trees with a javelin!? If that had missed by even the slightest inch then he'd have been stuck to a tree by an altogether more important part of his person.

That aside… initiation had started and while he felt confident in his skills as a dust specialist, there was still a forest of Grimm between him and those relics. He'd also somewhat lost track of where he was, mostly on account of the bloody _javelin_ hitting and dragging him completely off track. _Okay, it's fine… I know the rough direction; I just need to head that way. Maybe I can luck out and end up with Weiss as a partner._

That brought a little bit of red to his cheeks, not to mention the embarrassed smile. He probably should have recognised her, all things considered, but experiments and dust studies had always been more important to him than television. Still, she was the heiress of the SDC, one of – no, _the_ _best_ – supplier of premium dust in Remnant. For someone like him, that was amazing.

And she'd captivated him the moment he had seen her. Enough so that he had to make up some silly excuse about hearing something in order to approach her. He'd seen her little incident with the girl in red, Ruby if he remembered that rather loud (but undeniably funny) scene from the previous night. He'd wanted to get involved again, if only for another chance to speak with his Dust Angel but… well, it was all too embarrassing. _I'm a scientist, not a poet. I never thought I'd feel like this._

His first sight of her had made quite the impression, however. His feelings cemented when he found out just who she was.

At least his dust containers were still in one piece, he considered as he patted himself down. That meant he was armed, more so with Crocea Mors – for all the good it would do. He could swing it in the vague direction of a Grimm if he had to, but by that point he was probably dead anyway. Some noise in the nearby brushes caught his attention, Jaune falling into a ready stance, one hand dipped into his bandolier, the other holding the purloined javelin. Maybe it would make for a good distraction. Did Beowolves like to play fetch?

"-not your partner!" Weiss Schnee erupted from the foliage, stalking forward with an expression that somehow remained beautiful, even with her anger. Pale blue eyes met his, widening slightly as she came to a halt.

"Hey Weiss," Jaune tried to play it cool, resisting the urge to rub the back of his head awkwardly – more because doing so would mean either skewering himself or rubbing dust in his hair. Neither were good options. He winced as he saw Ruby follow after her, the small girl clearly having found Weiss before he had. Damn it. "I see you've already found a partner," he sighed.

"Not necessarily," Dust Angel retorted, one hand held out. "That is… well, this isn't technically official yet. Things could change. Maybe things _should_ change."

Jaune would freely admit to feeling guilty, especially when he saw the look on Ruby's face. But maybe it was for the best this way? Maybe now that Ruby was free of a partner who clearly didn't like her… she might be able to find one who did.

And when Pyrrha arrived for her javelin five minutes later, which she took from him without ever really explaining why he'd been `gifted` it in the first place, Ruby found her partner.

Much to Weiss' chagrin…

He had his Dust Angel, though. And he would prove to her that he could be a worthwhile partner. That was his promise, both to himself and to her.

/-/

Pyrrha's day got worse with a Deathstalker… and an explosion.

Really, the day had been fairly bad from the start, what with her intended target going a little off track, then the various Grimm she had to fight barehanded. Sure, on hindsight throwing her weapon away was a bad idea. But then on hindsight those Grimm probably thought that about attacking her too.

But they'd still managed to delay her long enough that someone else had snatched her quarry. It was a shame too, since he was the only person who hadn't seemed eager to curry favour with her. Well, in truth that was only because he'd been so obviously enamoured by Weiss, but still – she had to take what she could find. Ruby Rose didn't seem a bad choice, however, even if she was a little younger than Pyrrha had thought. Things had started to look up.

And then they had started to look incredibly down.

The ruins of the… well, the _ruin_ exploded around them, showering brickwork and masonry across her shield. The Deathstalker barrelled through the decrepit wall with a sibilant hiss, clacking its pincers loudly in the air. The other four students at the building scattered, shouting out warnings as they spread out across the clearing.

She'd known investigating that cave was a bad idea.

At least it looked like they were going to have some help in the upcoming fight. She was winded but not exhausted, while the four new people seemed completely fresh. Already they were shooting and attacking the scorpion-like creature, denting its carapace wherever they hit. "It's got heavy armour," Pyrrha warned, nodding towards her partner, Weiss and Jaune.

"We can go for the exposed areas," Ruby chipped in, earning a nod. The girl's speed was incredible enough to achieve that – and with her sniper rifle it would be easy from range too. "I'll tell the others!"

"Wait," Weiss shouted, only to curse when the girl vanished, "That dolt. Does she have no concern for strategy?"

"Now, now, Weiss," Jaune soothed, "She's just helping."

Pyrrha sighed. It was just another indication that he would have been a good partner. Weiss was so bent against Ruby it was unfair. The younger girl hadn't done anything wrong and with her speed would be the best person to pass the message on. Jaune realised that, which meant he wasn't nearly as strict as the Schnee heiress. Even if Pyrrha was happy enough with Ruby as her partner, there was still a part of her that wondered at what could have been.

"Well she should have waited to see what we do," Weiss snapped. "Forget it… Jaune, do you have something that could hurt or slow it down?"

"I'm sure I could put something together," the blond grinned and flicked his jacket back, revealing the bandolier Pyrrha had spied earlier. Weiss had proudly mentioned as such when they'd chatted in the locker rooms, of how he was a dust specialist – or at least one in training. Pyrrha would happily admit she'd been impressed. There hadn't been any competitors in the circuits who focused purely on dust. It was too expensive, both in terms of lien and time learning it. In fact, from what she understood it wasn't even really anything you _could_ learn. Most people experimented and studied on their own, experience and practice being their two chief teachers.

He quickly selected and clicked open two pouches, drawing forth a metal container and measuring fine granules into the palm of his hand. Pyrrha had no idea what he was aiming for… to her dust was just for ammunition or appliances. The results were sure to be incredible, however. Dust gave the world energy and electricity. It powered cars, Bullheads and buildings… what a dust specialist could do with the almost magical substance, Pyrrha had no idea.

"Watch a dust specialist at work," Weiss whispered, eyes alight with pride.

Pyrrha would give her that one. The focus on his face was incredible, the concentration…

"I've got it!" Sapphire eyes snapped up, locking onto the Beowolf as he considered the small piles of dust in his palms.

He clapped his hands together.

/-/

Weiss' dreams shattered in an instant… and… well… also in an explosion.

Jaune Arc, her partner… the _`dust specialist_ ` slammed his hands together, mixing goodness knows how many different variations of dust. He then cackled loudly, rearing back and lobbing it at the Deathstalker.

White hair whipped back as dust, grass and bits of Grimm were sent streaming her way.

"It's still alive," Pyrrha coughed from beside her, hacking loudly as dust filled the air.

"On it!" her partner grabbed another container – to her absolute _horror_ – upending the entire store of dust into another. The metal warped instantly, crackling loudly as he capped it shut and tossed it towards the monster. Another horrific explosion ripped through the air.

"What are you doing!?" Weiss shouted, trying to make her voice heard over the ringing in their ears. The others were no better off, rushing for cover as fire, lightning and ice exploded across the meadow. A black-haired boy was dragging a slack-jawed girl behind him. The hammer-wielding girl stared at the explosions, face looking like she was having an orgasm.

"I'm a dust specialist," her idiotic partner grinned, "Don't worry. I've got this!"

He liberally sprinkled some red and white dust together, taking a look at it and shrugging before throwing it at the struggling Deathstalker. The results were predictable. And loud.

"That is not what a dust specialist does!"

"Sure it is," he laughed – no, _cackled_. "Dust is the substance which allows us to harness nature's power against the Grimm." He threw another dust grenade, though she used the term lightly.

"It is," she scowled, "But only when used _properly_!"

"What!?" He glanced back to her, face black with soot, "But I am using it properly, see? I'm getting the exact results I'm looking for."

The Deathstalker roared, only for its voice to be drowned out by a louder, dust-infused, roar.

"You're just mixing random things together. The chances of that creating anything _other_ than an explosion are negligible!" Weiss had her hands over her ears, not that it stopped the ringing. "You're not a dust specialist. You're a lunatic!"

"Dust is an equalizer," he laughed, "A dust specialist uses it to give his allies an edge or to take away a Grimm's advantages. They may be stronger, faster and tougher than me..." Another impromptu-grenade, "But nothing evens out a fight like high explosives."

"He's not technically wrong," Pyrrha shouted.

Weiss could only growl and close her eyes as the bright lights overwhelmed her. This couldn't be happening. Her teammate, her new partner… he wasn't a dust specialist at all. He didn't even know what he was doing. He just… haphazardly tossed dust together, proclaiming the results intended. And oh gods, did his eyes have to be so excited when he was blowing things up?

Finally, the din began to settle, fragments of Remnant and Grimm fluttering down around them as they each slowly looked around the meadow. The word meadow was ill-deserved now, considering the lack of any living blade of grass, the craters – not to mention the burning trees lying around. He stood in the middle of it all, like some kind of avatar of destruction.

"Well," Pyrrha clapped a hand on her shoulder, "Enjoy your partner Weiss. What relic did you get again?"

"Knight…" the heiress whispered despondently.

Pyrrha nodded, "Ruby, we want a castle piece."

"BLAKE, QUICK!" the blonde yelled, diving for the relics. Pyrrha swore and charged in to support her partner, each fighting for the last castle piece. Nearby, the second knight sat, completely uncontested.

Weiss couldn't even find it within herself to be offended.

"See?" The bane of her life sauntered up to her, smiling widely, "I told you I had it. You and me, Weiss, the resources of the SDC mixed with my genius."

Weiss shivered.

"You caught my eye the very moment you caused that explosion," he went on – and suddenly a lot of things started to make sense. Of course _that_ was what had made him approach her. "I'm going to prove it to you, Weiss. I'm going to prove that I'm the best partner ever, that I'm the best dust specialist ever."

"I don't think that means what you think it means."

"Shhh…" He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, leaning down so that his cheek was pressed against hers, "Imagine it Weiss," he whispered, "Explosions… explosions everywhere."

And she did imagine it. It was hard not to with him standing beside her. The image was crisp and clear in her mind… alongside it, the image of what her sister's face would look like when she heard about this.

Weiss' hopes and dreams shattered.

"Whoops," he coughed, "Spilled some dust on my sleeve."

And… there was an explosion too.

There always was.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed. Like I said, this is a one-shot and a parody so don't expect any more from it. I wrote it out as though it was the first chapter of a fic, however, just because it sort of made sense this way. Obviously this is completely outside of my normal updates and is more of a freebie. I was bored and it only took two hours.  
**


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